BP oil spill payments to resume after fee wrinkle

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Payments from a compensation fund for BP's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are resuming.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility said it now understood how to assess a 6 percent fee for attorneys handling claims against BP PLC.

The facility is handling a $20 billion compensation fund for the spill. It said Tuesday that it had frozen payments until a federal judge clarified his ruling on the fees.

On Dec. 28, the judge ordered that payments made on and after Nov. 7, 2011, include a 6 percent fee for lawyers affiliated with a steering committee approved by the federal court to spearhead oil spill litigation for plaintiffs.

The facility says about $260 million has been paid to claimants since Nov. 7.